Capacity
Together we can do more.
Samaritans support a diverse range of people and communities all over the UK and Ireland. We want to recruit more people from different walks of life to better reflect the communities we serve and meet the demand for our services.
One of the best things about Samaritans is the support. Everyone is on the same page, regardless of where they come from. I met people I wouldn’t have done, or wouldn’t have spoken to – different ages, backgrounds, jobs – it was good for me.
Taz, Samaritans volunteer
Service expansion
To keep up with the demand for our service and increase our diversity, we need to expand and add new locations. That’s why we set up the service expansion pilot programme, which supports the establishment of new locations. This year, we supported Samaritans of Northumbria (Ashington branch) to open a new location in Berwick-upon-Tweed and our second campus-based location in partnership with Anglia Ruskin University opened in Chelmsford in early 2023.
Volunteers at our London City Hub location, which offers a new flexible approach to volunteering, answered more than 5,000 online chat contacts this year. Sevenoaks Samaritans, another relatively new hub, answered more than 12,000 phone calls, while our new location in Bradford answered more than 3,300 calls.
We answer a call for help every 10 seconds
Meeting demand for our helpline
We’re working to make sure every call for help is answered. Currently, we’re not always able to meet the demand for Samaritans’ services and there is a risk that people who are trying to contact us can’t get through, so we’re increasing capacity for our phone service during twilight and night hours.
Last year, we piloted our ongoing Hours of Need project in Yorkshire and Humberside, encouraging branches to have more volunteers answering calls in the early hours of the morning. During the pilot, branches in this region collectively contributed an additional 430 phone hours between 2-6am, times when people often have to wait to get through to a Samaritan. We’ve learned a lot from this trial and are now working with more regions to develop a good practice toolkit for branches, as well as new ways of reporting and tracking progress.